The e-commerce giant amazonwill have to pay a significant fine for alleged child privacy violations involving virtual assistant Alexa.
The indictments, made by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States, allege that the company did not respond to requests from parents to delete voice recordings and geolocation information of children using the service.
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Accusations of violating children's privacy
Since 2018, Amazon has made Alexa voice assistant services available to children under 13. However, in May of this year, US authorities launched an investigation after receive allegations that the company was not adequately handling the private information of children. This led to the formal complaint.
(Image: Shutterstock/reproduction)
Amazon has been accused of violating children's privacy laws, including the FTC Act and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
According to the allegations, the company withheld voice recordings of children until September 2019, even after parents requested manual deletion. This practice was deemed unfair and deceptive, violating Section 5 of the FTC Act.
As a result of the allegations, Amazon agreed to pay a fine of $25 million (approximately 119 million reais) to end the process.
This financial penalty is intended to penalize the company for non-compliance with child privacy laws and emphasize the importance of adequate protection of the personal information of children using the virtual assistant Alexa.
Other Amazon Privacy Issues
In addition to questions related to the virtual assistant Alexa, the Amazon also faces a lawsuit for privacy violations associated with the Ring video doorbell service.
In this case, the company was ordered to pay an additional fine of US$ 5 million (approximately R$ 23 million). The allegations indicate that employees were involved in illegal surveillance of customers and that they were not effective enough in preventing hackers from taking control of the cameras.
The millionaire fine imposed on Amazon for violations of children's privacy through the virtual assistant Alexa serves as a wake-up call for all companies that deal with sensitive data from children.
The case also highlights the importance of strictly complying with privacy laws to ensure adequate protection of all users' personal information.
In light of growing concerns about cybersecurity and online privacy, it is critical that companies adopt effective measures to protect its customers' data and build public confidence in the services it provides. offer.